'Play with the field', says Rohit Sharma post victory

Indore (Madhya Pradesh) [India], Dec 23 (ANI): After a spectacular display of cricketing prowess, Indian stand-in skipper Rohit Sharma on Friday said it was his ability to score runs in every nook and corner of the ground that helped him equal the fastest century in Twenty20 International cricket, thus paving way for the hosts' massive 88-run victory here.

Sharma, leading India in the absence of the newly-wed regular captain Virat Kohli, matched the record South Africa's David Miller set against Bangladesh in October as he mercilessly took on Sri Lankan bowlers during his century off just 35 balls.

The 30-year-old Sharma, who smashed 10 sixes and 12 fours, said he tried to play according to the field setup by the opposition, and not target any specific area to score runs.

"It is important that you try and play with the field. I want to score all round the park not just in one area. So, for m,e it is important that I try and explore the fielding that the opposition keep for me. In all formats, I try and do that, because hitting in just makes you predictable. It is always important to score runs all over the field, and that is my strength. So I try and stick to it and I try and play with the field," he said.

However, with India's humiliating defeat during the start of the limited-overs leg of the tour, Sharma confessed to have been under tremendous pressure post the match in Dharamsala, adding that a lot of retrospection was required.

"After the first match in Dharamsala, the pressure was very high. In Dharamsala, our position was such that we were about to score the lowest score (in a one-day international). I started to think about my captaincy and my team; captaincy was turning out to be difficult for me. I was handed the captaincy for the first time and I found myself in such circumstances and the team lost. It's not like there is no pressure. Pressure is always there," he said.

In response to India's total of 260 at the Holkar Stadium here, Sri Lanka were bowled out for 172 in the 18th over to go down 2-0 in the three-match series after also losing in tests and one-day internationals.

Rohit Sharma was declared the Man of the Match.

Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium will host the final match of the tour on Sunday. (ANI)